handbag
noun · verb
Simple meaning
A small bag used chiefly by women for carrying different small personal items, sometimes considered as a fashion accessory.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
handbagSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈhændbæɡ
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
chiefly commonwealth
A small bag used chiefly by women for carrying various small personal items, sometimes considered as a fashion accessory.
A container used for carrying money and small personal items or accessories (especially by women)
verb
britishtransitivehumorous
To attack verbally or subject to criticism (typically used of a woman).
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B1 · Intermediate (estimated)
- Frequency
- Moderately Common
- Typical Use
- General and technical use
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: A small bag used chiefly by women for carrying various small personal items, sometimes considered as a fashion accessory.
Used this way, handbag is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It stays understated rather than dramatic. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Mild
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: small bag used chiefly by women for carrying various small personal items
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.